The US Supreme Court said today that it will hear arguments next month on the constitutionality of a federal law that could ban TikTok in the US unless its Chinese parent company sells it.
The justices will hear arguments on whether the law unlawfully restricts speech in violation of the First Amendment. The law, which was passed in April, set a January 19 deadline for TikTok to sell or face a US ban. The social media platform has more than 170 million users in the US.
It's unclear how quick a decision could be. But the court could still act after arguments to block the law from taking effect pending a final ruling, if at least five of the nine justices find it unconstitutional.
Lawyers for the company and China's BiteDance urged the judges to rule before January 19. The court will also hear arguments from content creators who rely on the platform for income and some TikTok users.
The Department of Justice of the outgoing Biden administration will defend the law passed by Congress with bipartisan support and signed into law by Democratic President Joseph Biden in April. A new Republican administration may not have the same view of the bill.
President-elect Donald Trump, who once supported the ban, said during the campaign that he would "save TikTok" and that his administration would review the case. On Monday, Trump met with TikTok CEO Shou Zi Che at the Mar-a-Lago Club in Florida.
The company said a shutdown lasting just a month would cause TikTok to lose about one-third of its daily users in the US and significant advertising revenue.
The case pits free speech rights against the goals of protecting national security, while simultaneously raising questions about social media.
A panel of federal judges on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit unanimously upheld the law on Dec. 6, then denied an emergency request to delay the law's implementation.
Without court action, the law would have gone into effect on January 19 and exposed app stores that offer TikTok and the internet hosting services that support it to potential fines.
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